Gas Prices Up Five Cents Since Last Week

Gas prices are rising again, which means fueling up is adding up.”It’s costing a lot more money these days. This’ll cost me about 85 bucks or so here to fill this van,” said Tom Libby of Blue Hill as he fueled up in Bangor.In this economy, it equals a significant chunk of money for most drivers. “Driving a big truck like this that gets 9 miles a gallon. It hurts. It’s a quarter of my paycheck every week just to fill this thing up,” said Roland Wortman of Greenville.Experts say prices are up about 20 cents from where they were this time last year.”We’ve been on quite a roller coaster this year. Mainers are currently paying 10 cents more than the national average and a statewide average of $3.94 and that’s increased 5 cents in the past week,” said Pat Moody, Public Affairs Manager at AAA of Northern New England. Typically, prices go down after Labor Day, but that hasn’t happened this year. At least not yet. We’re told the rising price of crude oil and Isaac’s effect on gulf coast refineries are partially to blame.”It takes time to work it’s way through to the pump when the prices are impacted on the wholesale level,” said Moody.In the meantime, the addition of higher gas prices is causing drivers to subtract from other parts of their budget.Wortman said, “It hurts everything else. Sometimes I can’t buy as much food during the week or stuff like that. I got to basically concentrate in putting gas in my truck just to go to work.”And that’s the one thing folks who drive every day really can’t substract.”It is what it is. We have to get around. I don’t know at what point it will change people’s behavior. So far it doesn’t seem to, even at $4 a gallon,” said Libby.Experts predict prices will go back down. The question is: When?